Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: George Washington and Executive Branch Authority
Today we discuss how George Washington's actions established the authority of the presidency.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Federalism in Practice
The American system of federalism is introduced.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Brown v. Board of Education Part 2
The Supreme Court decision in the case of Brown v Board of Education (1954) ended school segregation but was difficult to enforce.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Equal Protection: Categories of People
A discussion of how laws create classifications of people.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Equal Protection: Strict Scrutiny
Laws that can potentially violate a person's equal protection under the laws are the subject of strict judicial scrutiny by the courts.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Equal Protection: Intermediate Scrutiny
Intermediate judicial scrutiny of laws is applied where laws create categories of people, to ensure that everyone receives equal protection under the law. The case of Craig v. Boren (1976) is discussed as an example.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Equal Protection: Rational Basis
If a person or group decides to challenge an existing law, the onus is on them to prove that the law is not rational.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Rational Basis: Stanton v. Stanton
In the Stanton v. Stanton (1975) case, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no rational basis in that situation to discriminate based on age.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Equal Protection and the States
The due process clause in the Fifth Amendment can be invoked if the parties feel they have not been given equal protection under the laws, and want to mount a court challenge against the national government.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Introduction to Voting Rights
The right to vote is now given to most adults in the United States but this was not always the case.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: The Right to Vote
The right to vote is the backbone of American democracy, making it possible for all adult citizens to participate in government.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Regulation of Commerce
The system of federalism causes some conflict between Congress and the states over the regulation of interstate commerce.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Voting Rights in the American Colonies
The right to vote in the American colonies was limited to property owners, and although a wider subset of the population could vote than in Britain, many groups were still excluded.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Deciding Who Can Vote
The Constitutional Convention left it to the states to decide who was eligible to vote.This meant that struggles to win the right to vote first happened in individual states.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: New Jersey's Early Liberal Voting Requirements
New Jersey was one state where conflict emerged over voting requirements. Some African American residents and women who were initially allowed to vote were later disenfranchised.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: The Property Requirement
Being able to vote in the days of the early American government meant that the voter had to own property. This requirement was gradually removed.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: The Dorr Rebellion
Covers the history of voting in Rhode Island during the 1840s, when Thomas Wilson Dorr led a rebellion against voting laws which left many white males disenfranchised.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Voting Rights: Violence Against Mexican Americans
Despite being given the right to vote in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexican Americans were the target of violence and racism, and were subject to tactics similar to African Americans, e.g., literacy tests, to prevent them from voting.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Fifteenth Amendment and Suffrage
While the Fifteenth Amendment was meant to clear the way for disenfranchised groups to vote, most Southern and some other states put obstacles in place to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Woman Suffrage: Part 1
The struggle of women to win the right to vote was linked to that of African Americans, and they often worked together for common goals.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Regulation of Drugs
A discussion of how the Supreme Court upheld the right of Congress to regulate local commercial activities that have a noticeable impact on interstate commercial activities. A 2005 case involving the regulation of patients prescribed...
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Woman Suffrage: Part 2
Leaders in the women's suffragette movement tried to win the right to vote with the passing of the 14th Amendment, but were denied it.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Woman Suffrage: Part 3
In 1872 women tried to vote and, when they could not, they took their case to the judicial system.
Center For Civic Education
60 Second Civics: Woman Suffrage: Part 4
Wyoming was among the first to give women the right to vote, and through the efforts of leaders in the suffrage movement, over half the states had followed suit by 1918.